Deputy Principal - Learning and Teaching 

VCE SAC/SAT Schedule 

Please see attached the VCE SAC calendar for Semester 1. Dates are outlined for all Unit 1 and 3 subjects. Detailed information regarding the nature of these assessments will be provided to students by their subject teacher prior to each SAC.  Students are responsible for being aware of their assessment schedule and planning study and personal events accordingly. On the rare occasion that this document needs to be updated, affected students will be notified by email in advance.

Students are reminded that attendance at SACs is compulsory, any absence should be supported by a medical certificate. 

Subject Change Requests

We are currently nine weeks into Semester 1 and a significant amount of learning and teaching has occurred. As such, mid semester subject changes are not conducive to student learning growth and will only be endorsed if extenuating circumstances apply.  Subject change requests will re-open at the end of Term 2.  Subject change forms are available in the CLC.

NAPLAN 

NAPLAN week here, and many parents (and students… and even teachers) are feeling a little extra stress and anxiety. NAPLAN has a lot of critics, plenty of supporters, and a whole lot of parents and students who simply go along with it because ‘it’s just what we do’.  This article is designed to offer some general – and gentle – advice.

What NAPLAN is…

NAPLAN stands for the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy; a nationwide standardised test that almost every student in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are about to sit. Its purpose is to provide information about how education programs are working, areas for improvement, and which schools need support in the teaching and learning of literacy and numeracy. Some critics argue that it doesn’t do this particularly well… but that’s beyond the scope of this discussion.

What NAPLAN does well…

When it works well, NAPLAN does three things:

1. NAPLAN results enable the identification of problems in the school system, and they point to places where education needs to improve. For example, NAPLAN results have shown us education gaps for indigenous students, and for students in disadvantaged schools. We knew those gaps existed. But now we know the scope and range.
2. Literacy and numeracy results are made transparent at a national, state and territory, and school level.  We now know that states and territories have different levels of achievement when they are compared on a like-for-like basis which NAPLAN allows.
3. NAPLAN shows us education trends over time.

What NAPLAN doesn’t do well…

NAPLAN doesn’t give you a useful guide on how your child is doing academically. The test is done in March and we receive the results in the late part of the year. If you want to know how your child is progressing, talk to the teachers. Great teachers can give you detailed information today about your child’s progress.

NAPLAN doesn’t give you any information about the quality of your child’s character. It doesn’t tell you anything about your child’s ability to work in a team, to problem-solve, to show compassion, to be creative, engaged or resilient. It’s not about your child’s talents. NAPLAN also gives us no information about the school your child attends in terms of approaches to discipline, school culture, school contribution to community or the way it encourages students in areas not covered by NAPLAN. In some cases it has been reported that NAPLAN, while providing data, doesn’t ultimately lead to governments providing schools (or parents) with the resources needed when issues arise.

What you should do…

Based on everything I’ve outlined above, you’ll note that much of NAPLAN’s focus is oriented towards education at a school, regional, state, and national level. While there is some individual focus, it’s not really an individual assessment tool. It’s more about how the school, the state, and the country are doing. Therefore, I suggest parents keep the following in mind:

• Don’t make NAPLAN a big deal. You barely even need to talk about it with your child
• Don’t offer rewards to your child for doing well on NAPLAN. Research evidence shows this adds pressure, builds anxiety, and reduces children’s creativity, motivation and interest in real learning. (One mum I spoke to wondered if bribing her child with a puppy would be helpful. It’s not.)
• Don’t buy practice tests for NAPLAN. Your child doesn’t need to rehearse for NAPLAN.
• Don’t worry about NAPLAN results. Leave that to the school.  Instead, you might want to try the following:
  • Do show an interest in your child’s education, regardless of whether NAPLAN is on or not.
  • Do encourage your child to read every single day. Read to them. Read with them. Have them read alone. And do this regardless of whether NAPLAN is on or not.
  • Do have your child participate in sports, music, art, drama and other enrichment activities to the degree that you have the time and money for them – regardless of whether NAPLAN is on or not.
  • Do give your child plenty of unstructured (screen-free) time to simply be kids. 

NAPLAN is on what your child should do.

More than anything, your child will benefit from not being particularly interested in or bothered by NAPLAN. Life should be as close to normal as possible for your child. It’s true that some schools want to see NAPLAN results before they’ll consider enrolling your child. It’s true that some elements of NAPLAN feel like they matter a lot to us as parents because we want to see our children succeed. 

But please – PLEASE – remember:

Your child’s NAPLAN score is not an indicator of your child’s value, your child’s potential or your child’s worthiness. It’s just a number. And it’s more meaningful to the school system than it is to you or your child.

When NAPLAN rolls around, treat it like a small, gentle wave at the beach. It rolls up the sand. It leaves a small, temporary mark. And then it disappears back into the ocean.

AUTHOR

Dr Justin Coulson.

Dr Justin Coulson is a dad to six daughters. He is the parenting expert and co-host of Channel Nine’s Parental Guidance, and he and his wife host Australia’s #1 podcast for parents and family:  The Happy Families Podcast. He has written six books about families and parenting. For further details visit happyfamilies.com.au. 

ACARA NAPLAN VIDEO

To see a short video about NAPLAN see below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGFseJAM3Ew

Interim Reports 

Term 1 Interim Reports will be released on Wednesday 29 March and will be available via SEQTA.

The Interim Report provides an opportunity for teachers to provide specific feedback to students and families about learning behaviours and learning growth. 

Parent/Teacher Interviews

We value the opportunity to partner with families in the education of their children. One such opportunity to connect is through the participation in parent/teacher interviews. Students are encouraged to attend the interviews with their parents and engage in conversation regarding their learning. Parent/Teacher interviews will be held in person onsite and online via Microsoft Teams. Further details will be communicated to families via email shortly.

SAVE THE DATE

• Wednesday 5 April
  Classes finish at 2:30 p.m. 
• Interviews conducted onsite in the Stadium 3:30 - 8:30 p.m.

• Thursday 6 April
• Student Free Day 
• 10:00 AM - 2:30 p.m.

Australia's Best Teacher Campaign 

News Corp has launched its ‘Australia’s Best Teachers’ campaign and Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) is a major partner. Australia’s Best Teachers aims to recognise the wonderful work of those in the profession by celebrating our most inspirational and innovative educators. The campaign calls on Australians to nominate the great teachers who have, and have had, an incredible impact on our students and all of our lives. A panel of expert judges will then select and announce the top 50 teachers on Saturday 6 May 2023. We have some great teachers at St John’s and I would like to encourage the entire school community to contribute nominations via the following link: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/australias-best-teachers-news-corp-series-to-recognise-inspirational-teachers/news-story/7f3b0ccc1f8c2bdf4a7c56814c56b995

Gifted Awareness Week - Student Competition 

Gifted Awareness Week will be held from Saturday 20 May to Sunday 28 May 2023 and St John’s Regional College and Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) is conducting a student competition to celebrate. 

To enter the competition, students can choose from the following to address the prompt ‘what are the diverse faces of giftedness in students?’

• write a story or song
• draw or paint a response
• design a social media page (e.g. on Facebook, Instagram).

All competition entries must be signed by the principal.

Book vouchers will be awarded to the winning entries.

Parent Webinar

Date: Tues 21 March 2023

Time: 8.15 p.m.

Venue: Online

Body esteem educator workshop: Body Confident Children and Teens Webinar

Supporting Body Confidence and healthy relationships with food and exercise in young people.

This relaxed and informative webinar provides practical tips to help parents/guardians better understand and promote positive body image in the home.

Delivered by the Butterfly Foundation, Australia’s largest not-for-profit eating disorders and body image organization.

Learn more here